


Treetops

by Bringobaggins



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Fluff, Infected Characters, M/M, Zombie AU, Zombie Apocalypse, sort of based off Warm Bodies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 22:10:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14903027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bringobaggins/pseuds/Bringobaggins
Summary: Jean is part of the Survey Corps, a group dedicated to saving humanity after a super virus wipes out almost the entire world. While on a survival mission, he comes across someone already half infected who manages to give him a bit more hope with life.





	Treetops

**Author's Note:**

> Ah so this is based off my friend Chellyla's art! She drew a picture of Jean and Marco as a request and I was inspired!! Its more fluff...and honestly more interaction at the end but I did my best!! I hope you guys enjoy it too!!

Jean took a deep breath as he stood in front of a large metal door. He could feel his stomach doing flip flops and even though he was dressed in heavy layers, he felt cold. He shook himself and rubbed his face. “Alright. I can do this.” He muttered.

 

“Getting nervous Kirschstein?” a voice echoed into his ear.

 

He rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you stop hiding behind the computers and join the recovery squad Eren?” 

 

“Sorry, no can do. At least not until they finish my leg.” Eren laughs and leans back on his chair. “Once that’s done I’d be more than happy to join you and you guys on your outings. Anyways, you ready for the door to open? Armin looks like he’s about to kill me.”

 

Jean pulled his mask up and takes another breath. “Yeah. Yeah I’m ready. Everyone else in position?”

 

There was a honk behind him that made him jump. He snarled and grabbed his gun. “Sasha I swear!”

 

“Sorry Jean! Couldn’t resist! Alright! Were all set here!” 

 

“I’m opening the doors. Remember guys, don’t waste any of the sleep darts on any of those that are too far gone. Get close, but be on guard. We don’t want to lose anybody else.” Armin’s voice went off in everyone’s ears. There was a loud alarm that went off and the giant metal door opened up. “Keep your masks on. Don’t take them off for any reason. I’m getting a lot of toxic air readings.”

 

Jean hopped on the side of the large truck as Sasha pulled forward. “We know. We’ll be careful.”

 

\--

As often as Jean came outside, he was never prepared. Trost had once been one of the greatest countries in the world. It was beautiful with tall, glass buildings that glittered in the sunlight. There was dozens of fountains with amazing sculptures. It was peaceful and there were hardly any struggles. At least on the outside.

 

But the government had been experimenting with some sort of drug to slow down death. That drug backfired and instead, created a super virus that got out and spread. It would affect the brain first. It would make whoever was infected crave human flesh. Then, it would deteriorate the body from there. Flesh would start to decay and rot off. The eyes would tint yellow and dark circles would appear. After a few days, the person would be a mindless zombie.

 

At first, it was only spread through saliva. Bites. But then it became airborne, and that was when all hell broke loose. Before anybody knew what was happening, nearly the entire continent had been contaminated and it journeyed around the rest of the world. The safest place was within the walls that were built after several years by survivors. 

 

There weren’t many. There was Jean, Sasha, Connie, Eren and Armin. They found each other. And then they were picked up by another group of people that called themselves the Survey Corps. They had used to be part of the government, but they broke off after the virus. One of the members, Hanji, had developed an antibiotic. It wasn’t perfect, but for those that weren’t to far gone, it was something. They would have to continue to take it for the rest of their lives, or risk becoming a mindless zombie.

 

Eren had to take it. He had lost his leg in the last rescue mission. It was proving to be a success. So here they were, trying to find more survivors.

 

“Oi! Stop over here! I’m getting a life signal.” Jean hops off the tank and watches his scanner carefully.

 

After a moment, he looked up and raised an eyebrow. It was the ruins of a house. It looked like it had been ransacked and then destroyed. But, clearly there was a lifeform inside. “I’m gonna go in. Connie, can you cover me?” 

 

The short, bald boy hops out of the tank next. “You got it boss.”

 

Jean made sure he was completely covered before moving on. They approached the door carefully, guns raised. You never knew if you were gonna meet a zombie after all. Or if the life form was one. The door was already busted open, so he just moved it slowly. He winced when it creaked and he and Connie stopped.

 

“I don’t hear anything moving...you think we’re safe?” Connie whispers.

 

“Only one way to find out. Let’s keep moving.” Jean nudges his head and moves inside.

 

The scene before him doesn’t surprise him. It would have seemed that zombies had broken in and raised hell. There was blood everywhere. And even through their protective gear, the smell of death was extremely heavy.

 

“Urgh. Looks like they had a feast, huh?” Connie shakes his head. “Not much left here…”

 

“The reading is coming from down that hallway. Someone has gotta be here. Be ready for anything Connie.” Jean started to move forward, frowning at the miscellaneous body parts that were scattered on the floor.

 

They made their way down the dark hallway and to a closed door. Jean’s scanner started to go off more and he kicked open the door, readying his gun in case one of the dead decided to stick around. But there was no zombie. At least...not a full one.

 

There was a boy, no older than Jean, lying on the floor. He was missing his right arm and part of his face was torn at his mouth. He was pale and blue around his lips. Jean swallows, lowering his gun. “I think we found one that’s not too far gone yet guys.” he radios in. “Were gonna try and save him.”

 

“Are you sure Jean? If he wakes...its possible he’ll be a mindless zombie and try to kill us.” Connie frown at him.

 

“You know what our job is. I think we can save him.” Jean opens his bag and takes out a syringe and a glass vile. The vile is filled with a purple liquid. Jean extracts the liquid and kneels down. He looks at the boy’s face and takes a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s try this.” He injects it right into the boys heart. Within a few moments, the boy jolts awake. Jean notices he had brown eyes that are lightly tinted yellow from the infection. His right eye seemed worse. The boy lets out a loud scream and tries to back away. 

 

“Whoa! Hey! Calm down! It’s okay! We’re here to rescue you!!” Jean holds his hands up.

 

Connie isn’t so kind. He raises his gun and cocks it. “Jean he’s freaking out. I don’t think it’s working. We have to put him down!”

 

“Hold on! Hey! Stop screaming! Please! You’ll attract them!” Jean reaches for him.

 

“Stop! Don’t touch me!” The boy shouts. “I’m infected! You’ll get sick too. Please leave…”

 

Connie lowers his gun and sighs. “Alright. Looks like we got one.”

 

“What’s your name?” Jean questions. “You can’t infect us either. Our gear protects us from that. We’re from the Survey Corps. We go around, looking for any possible survivors. I’m Jean, this is my partner Connie. I injected you with an antibiotic that stops the infection from getting any worse but you’ll need a dose every six hours for a while before we can just make it down to one.”

 

The boy stares at Jean in disbelief. “What? That’s not possible. There’s nothing that can save us!”

 

“There is now. Please come with us. We can help you.” Jean offers him his hand.

 

The boy hesitates before taking it. “Can you really? Can you really save me?”

 

Jean nods. “Were gonna do our damnedest.” 

 

The boy gives him a eerie but heartfelt smile. “Okay.”

 

A few months later, the boy, Marco, is officially part of their team. He lost his right eye to the infection and covers it with an eyepatch. Hanji and Armin developed him a robotic arm using nanobots. It could function as a gun, a fire hose, anything really. He hung out with Jean a lot. Jean made him feel safe and a little bit more human. 

 

Sadly, Marco still needed to consume human flesh to live. It was one of the downsides to the infection. He hated it and made sure no one was around when he would eat. Jean insisted it was fine, after all, Eren also had been infected when he lost his leg(also replaced with a robot leg) and needed human flesh as well.

 

But Marco was much more withdrawn. He didn’t know these people before the infection. He was afraid still.

 

He’s startled when Jean finds him one day and plops down beside him. “Alright freckles, I have had it with your vageness. I know you’re ashamed of being part dead but we saved you. You’re not a mindless zombie. You’re a member of our team and my friend. You don’t have to seperate yourself from us, okay?” Jean takes his hand and gently squeezes it.

 

Marco looks down at him and swallows. For a moment he can almost feel warmth in his heart. “Thank you Jean. That really means a lot to me.”

 

“Hey, it’s no problem. You’ve been a big help to us. We’ve been able to save a lot more people because of you. We didn’t know if that antibiotic was gonna help. But it did, and look how far you’ve come!” Jean grins at him. He looks out at the wall. “I miss the world. But were going to get it back.”

 

“You really think so?” Marco looks at him. “There’s a lot of super infected people out there. I can sense them. I can smell them.”

 

“And were going to weed out the survivors and help them. Just like we helped you.” 

 

“I hope so. I’d like to see the world again too. I miss the trees. I used to climb them a lot with my younger sister. We had a whole forest in our backyard. It was beautiful. There was so many trees. Now the air is to toxic. Not that it matters for me I guess.” Marco chuckles a bit.

 

“Don’t talk like that Marco. We’re gonna clean up this mess. We’re gonna make the world livable again.” Jean leans against the other boy.

 

“I really like your optimistic look on life Jean. You never struck me as that kind of person.” Marco grins at him, hiding behind the scarf he wore around his neck.

 

“Just don’t go telling everyone about it. Especially Eren.” Jean looks up at him and bites his lip. He leans in and kisses his cheek. “Sorry. I had to do that.”

 

Marco blinks in surprise and raises his hand to his cheek. “Ah?” Something heats up in his chest. His eye widens and he looks over at him. “Jean…”

 

Jean scratches behind his head. “Yeah uh..anyways--” He blushes when Marco presses a kiss to his cheek as well.

 

“Now we're even.” Marco says curtly before standing up. “How about we go out and go on a scavenger hunt again?” He holds his arm out to Jean.

 

Jean stares at him before smiling and taking his hand. “Let’s go see if we can find the trees.”


End file.
